FIG. 1 illustrates a related-art switched reluctance machine (SRM) 100 having long rotor poles 102 and a back iron 104 that is narrow, but sufficient to carry flux for the SRM's intended use. The flux path within SRM 100 traverses through the entire heights of rotor poles 102. The long rotor poles 102 of SRM 100 create two drawbacks: (i) the flux path through the long rotor poles is longer than necessary and (ii) the greater weight of the rotor laminations, due to the length of the rotor poles, results in high core losses.